Reflecting on Asian Heritage Month in May, this is the first of a four-part article series from Heritage Mississauga's UTM internship student Daston Babakan that explores early Chinese connections in historic Mississauga.
Read Part 2 here.

Canada Day in 2023 marked the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the Chinese Immigration Act, which came to be known as “Humiliation Day” amongst the Chinese Canadian community. The effect of this law was the virtual banning of all Chinese immigration to Canada which lasted from 1923 to 1947, a period commonly referred to as the Exclusion Era. With this anniversary in mind, we at Heritage Mississauga want to explore the impact of this important piece of legislation on the Chinese community here in Mississauga through a series of articles. But before exploring the specific impact of the Chinese immigration Act in Mississauga, it is important to understand the national context which led to its introduction.

China and the Century of Humiliation

In China, the century following the First Opium War (1839-1842) came to be known as the “Century of Humiliation” - a century characterized by foreign invasion, civil war, and famine. No area was affected by these events more than the Southern Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Fujian. The Southern provinces during this period experienced one of the largest civil wars in history with the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864). It is estimated that almost 70 million people died not only from the conflict but also from the famines and plagues that were exacerbated by the war. Factors like these led the Chinese to look for opportunities elsewhere, particularly in the South of China. With Britain controlling colonial Hong Kong, migration to other colonies within Britain's Empire was more possible than ever.

Looking for new opportunities

The 19th century saw two significant periods of Chinese migration to Canada that jump-started Chinese Immigration. The first wave came with the start of the Gold Rush in British Columbia which began during the late 1850s with Chinese people immigrating first from the U.S. and then directly from China, hoping to strike it rich in the mining industry. The second wave occurred with the start of the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Due to the need for labour, the federal government allowed for the contracting of Chinese labour to build the railway. However, the government did not intend to have the Chinese stay, leading to a policy of only allowing single males to come and work here. The hope was that family separation would encourage them to go back after finishing the railroad.  However, once the railway was finished many did indeed stay behind and, using the railway they had just built, the Chinese began to move to different parts of Canada in search for job opportunities. By 1901, there were Chinese immigrants in every province in Canada with the largest numbers being in B.C. and Ontario.

Racial Anxieties

The reason the federal government had only planned on temporarily bringing in Chinese workers was simple - fear. The driving forces behind this fear of the Chinese held by Canada’s white population were twofold. The first was the social Darwinist idea that certain races of people were superior to others. In Canada, this manifested in the idea that the “Anglo-Saxon race” was superior to others and “possessed a special genius for self-government and creating an ordered and progressive society.” Keeping Canada predominantly white was of high importance, and the desirability of immigrants to Canada was based on the perceived similarities of groups to “Anglo-Saxons.”  The Chinese in this context were considered one of the least desirable, as the white majority saw them as a group of people incapable of self-governance and one that brings “barbaric values” to Canada. This view became known as the “Yellow Peril” and was seen as an existential and imminent threat to Canada and its values.

Secondly, the white population saw the Chinese as a threat to their economic interests as they feared losing jobs to new Chinese labourers. This fear stemmed from the fact that employers were able to pay their Chinese workers less than their white counterparts as the Chinese had no other option than to accept these lower wages. White workers feared that they would lose their jobs to these underpaid Chinese people.  These fears were further compounded by the use of Chinese labourers as scab workers during workers’ strikes. While in more recent years this economic threat has been convincingly disproven by academics like Peter Li, this idea became pervasive throughout Canadian society at the time.

The Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Immigration Act

These fears inevitably bled over into politics. In 1885, the same year that the CPR’s construction was completed, the federal government introduced the Chinese Head Tax. The Head Tax was a tax that every Chinese immigrant had to pay if they were to enter the country, the goal of which was to limit Chinese immigration. It was first set at $50, but by 1903, was raised to $500.  However, this did not stop Chinese immigration to Canada. Because of the continued Chinese immigration and the rising anti-Chinese sentiments from many different areas of society, from labour unions, to media, to citizens, the Federal government eventually took the drastic step of introducing the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act. This law banned the entry of the Chinese into Canada, with only minor exceptions. These exceptions only applied to Canadian-born children of Chinese descent returning to Canada, diplomats, merchants, and students. While these exceptions were in place, in practice, the Act virtually banned all immigration from China, as these categories made up an insignificant amount of migration.

The law also stipulated that all people of Chinese origin had to register with the government and carry a certificate stating their registration. Those who did not register could be fined $500, face up to a year in prison, or both. Furthermore, this certificate had to be carried at all times to prove one was here legally, as according to the Act, the police had a right to accost any Chinese person who they suspected was in Canada illegally without the need for a warrant. Failure to produce one's identification card could lead to arrest and potential legal punishment of a fine up to $1000, or imprisonment of up to a year. This policy proved to be greatly effective in reducing the flow of Chinese migrants into Canada as during the period from 1923 to 1947, only 50 Chinese people would enter Canada, compared to the around 12,000 that entered between 1911 to 1921, and the total Chinese population in Canada decreased from 39,587 to 32,000 between the years of 1921 and 1951.

In further articles, we will delve into the effects of Canada’s Exclusion Period on early Chinese residents in historic Mississauga.